Mao Sareth Explained

Mao Sareth
Native Name:ម៉ៅ សារ៉េត
Birth Date:c. 1944
Birth Place:Battambang, Cambodia, French Indochina
Death Date:mid-1970s
Death Place:Cambodia
Genre:traditional Khmer, romvong, saravan, film
Occupation:Singer
Years Active:1950s - 1970
Label:Wat Phnom Production
Associated Acts:Sin Sisamouth, Norodom Sihanouk

Mao Sareth (Central Khmer: ម៉ៅ សារ៉េត in Central Khmer pronounced as /maɯ saːˈrɛet/) was a Cambodian singer active from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s.[1] [2] Sareth was born in 1944 in Battambang, with the birth name Pol Sarann. She was one of the earliest popular singers in the Cambodian rock scene of the early 1960s, in which musicians combined traditional Khmer music styles with popular forms from the United States, Europe, and Latin America.[3] Mao was cited as an influence by later singers Pen Ran and Ros Serey Sothea.[4] She is known to have performed live as late as 1973.[5]

During an interview with Huoy Meas, Mao Sareth stated that she had three sisters and that she came from a family of musicians. In her free time she liked to read romantic novels.[6] Along with many musicians and members of other suspect professions, she was executed by the Khmer Rouge sometime during the later years of the Cambodian Civil War or early in the Cambodian Genocide.[7]

Notes and References

  1. News: Leng. Mali. កម្មវិធីវប្បធម៌ នៅក្នុងរបប កម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ (៧៣គ). 17 February 2015. Radio Free America. April 2008.
  2. Mamula. Stephen. Starting from Nowhere? Popular Music in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge. Asian Music. 2008. 39. 1. 26–41. University of Texas Press. 10.1353/amu.2007.0044. 25501573. 144694428.
  3. Chambers-Letson. Joshua. 2011. "No, I Can't Forget": Performance and Memory in Dengue Fever's Cambodian America. Journal of Popular Music Studies. 23. 3. 259–287. 10.1111/j.1533-1598.2011.01293.x.
  4. Saphan. LinDa. September 2016. Gendered Modernity in Cambodia: The Rise of Women in the Music Industry. Khmer Scholar Journal.
  5. Book: MD, Seang M. Seng. Starving Season: One Person's Story. 2019-06-12. Lulu Press, Inc. 978-1-4834-7369-7. en.
  6. Web site: Mao Sareth. Panhavuth. POK. February 3, 2015. Dynamic Khmer. February 3, 2015.
  7. Book: Streed. Sarah. Leaving the House of Ghosts: Cambodian Refugees in the American Midwest. 2002. McFarland. 9780786481934. 16. 17 February 2015.